Fiber separating machine



D. E. PATTERSON FIBER ssnnnma Inclusa original Filed wat. 19. 1932 Re.21,468 I May 28, 1940.

8 Sheets-Shet 1 Ml? 28, 1940. D. AEf. PATTERSON Re. 21,468

Hann snrm'riue normas original Filed Feb. 19, A1952 a sheets-sheet 2DAVID E. PATTERSON `BY HIS ATTORNEYS I l x N NVENTOR D. E. PATTERSONFIBER SEPARATING MACHINE j or11na1 Filed Peb. 19, 1952 May 2 8, 1940.

`8- Sheef-s-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DAVID a PATTERSON BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 2s,1,940. y

D. E. PATTERSON FIBER SEPARATING IIACHINE Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 ssheets-shet 4 INVENTOR A l www n. Pnl-rassen BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 28,-1940. In. E; PATTERSON R- 21,458

' Y Hasn sEPAnA'rINo ucr-um:

Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DAVID E.PATTERSON BY Hlsv ATTQRNEYS D. E. PATTERSON l FIBERv SEPARATINGIIACI'IINB Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 8 Sheets- Sheet 6 v INVENTDR DAvlo E. PATTERSON y BY Hls ATTORNEYS May 28,Y 1940. D. E'. PATTERSONFIBER SEPARATING MACHINE original Filed Feb. 19,

1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 DAVID E. PATTERSON BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 28, 19,40.D. a PATrr-:RsoN Re 21,458

- FIBER ssrm'rma uc3m:

original Filed Feb.. 19, 19:52 a sheets-Sheet a INVENTon DAVID E.PATTERSON.

Reuma May 28. `1940 Ppxrala'rv OFFICE l 21,468' man sarm'rmc MACHINEDavid E; rampen, Philadelphia, rs., signor to Consolidated FibreProducts,

Limited. a corlporation of the Bahama Islands Original No.l 2,079,661,dated May 1l, 1931, Serial` No. 594,070, February 19, 1932. Applicationfor reissue August' 9. 1938, Serial No. 223,994

13 claims.

This invention relates to machines for extracting bers from plants suchas ilax, hemp, ramie, sisal grass and the like.

` Machines of the !oregoing type as heretofore made have beenunsatisfactory in that they iniure the fibers during the process ofseparating them from the Vwoody parts, due to too strenuf ous treatmentof the plant stalks or material betweeny compression rolls or bywhipping del0 vices, thus causing an excessive amountof tow.

The ideal of a iinished fiber should be long and ribbony in nature.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved machine forseparating the woody part of fibrous plant stems from the `fibrous partsI of scutching operations inthe machine.

Another object is toY provide a machine which will subject fibrousstalks and the like to a smoothly operating continuous treatment,`without shock, for the purpose of removing the shives or woody parts ofthe stalks. 1 Other objects andfadvantages of my invention s will appearas the invention is described in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: y Fig. l is a rear elevation view of the inventionlooking into the discharging end thereof.

Fig. 2 is a front end elevation view of the invention looking into thefeed rollers; I

Fig. 3 is a side elevationview of the machine; Fig. 4 is a sideelevation view of the machine looking at the opposite side from thatshown in Fig'. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview through the machine taken'substantially on line B-I of m. 1: Fig. 6`^is la sectional view takensubstantially onlineI--lof1ig.'l;.`A Fig. 'I is adetail sectional viewthroughvthe beater blades and their actuating mechanism; Fig. 8 is avertical sectional v iew through the planetary gearing of the beaterbiadeassembly;

Fig'. 9 represents 'an end elevational view of oney of the beater bladesupporting members;

' Fig. 1.0 is a sectional view taken substantially on line'il-iii ofFig. 7; l Fig. ll is a perspective view of one of the scutchers; f

Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the compression and breakerbars. and their supporting hardware;

" Fig. 13 is a fragmentary detailed elevational i! to remove looseshives before the ber is taken view of the breaker and compressor barsand the operating means for lthe breaker bar;

Fig. i4 is an end view of Fig. 13 with the operating .cam added;

Fig, 15 is a fragmentary side elevational view 5 showing the means foroperating the breaker bar and feed rollers to adjusted position;

`Flg. 16 represents a fragmentary .'side elevational view of a modifiedform of vbeater blade; and `1o Fig. 1'7 represents a cross-sectionalview taken substantially on line i1`-I1 of Fig. `16.

Considered broadly, the invention, as embodied l in the machineillustrated, treats a layer of stalks I of brous material by feedingthem through 15 a, hopper 8 to feed rolls 5, B which deliver` the stalksbetween a pair of breaker barsB and I 0 of which the upper bar 9 isresiliently urged toward the lower, while the lower bar is reciprocatedtoward and away from the upper bar by 20 mechanism hereinafter more-fully described. After leaving the breaker bars, between which thematerial is alternately gripped firmly and released by the reciprocationof the lower bar, the

materialls fed between cooperating upper and 25` -rotary assembly actson the underside of the bers to assist in cleaning of the fibers as willbe 36 hereinafter more fully described.

From the rotary assembliesvor beating devices the fiber is fed to fourscutching devices I5`iil rotating on ilxed axes, pairs of such scutchingdevices cooperating in such manner that the 40 edges of one devicescrape over and bite into the ber as that device rotates and while thefiber is backed up by a concave surface on the other cooperating device(see Fig. 5). The scutching devices work on both the upper and lowersur- 45 faces of the fiber. n

Finally the scutched and cleaned fiber is subjected to the action of' arotating shaking device from the machine for further treatment. 50

` Referring more speciflcalLv to'the drawings, the machine parts aresupportedon a framework made up of vertical end frames 29 and 30 whichare joined by horizontal U-bars Il. 55

The .feeding and breaker bar mechanism and adjustments .Pivotallymounted on a horizontal shaft 32 which is journalled in bearings 29h,39", tlxed midway of the side edges ofthe frames 29, 90, is 'anadjustable mechanism made up of a` pair of similar heavy metal arms orstandards 33 fixed A by set screws on shaft 92 and extending verti-`cally therefrom adjacent opposite ends of the shaft. In 'theupper endsoi' standards 93 are formed slots or guideways 9| in which there areslidably mounted bearing blocks 95 rotatably supporting the reduced endsof a pair of parallel cooperating feed rolls 5 and 6 located one abovethe other in the plane of -the guideways. 'Ihe upper roll 5 may beresiliently mounted by providing compression springs 99 between thebearing blocks 35 of thatroll and cap pieces 36 covering the ends of theslots 94.' Adjustment bolt I1 passing vertically through each cap 99 andengaging the springs 99 affords means to adjust the pressure of theupper roll. f

, Also mounted on said standard '33 for the pur- Vpose of deliveringmaterial to the feed rolls is a hopper l of any suitable form. Thestalks passing through the feed rollers are alternately .gripped andreleased by the com# pression bar 9 and breaker bar Il) both of whichare pivotally supported upon the standards 39.

As-shown in detail in Fig. 12 the compression bar 9 is a long strip ofmetal of arcuate form in section and having securing fingers 9projecting from itsend yportions normal to the upper surface of the bar.The compression bar is attached at f each end to mounting, members eachconsisting of a centrally bored collar` portion Il having a lug 49extending radially therefrom with a slot 49 therein. Bolts 46* passingthrough holes in the securing ngers 9 take into internally memberspivot. In order to urge the compression` bar resiliently toward thebreaker bar i9 below, a pin 99 'passes loosely through the slot I9 inlug Il and into the standard. Colled around the pin between the lug 49and the standard 93 is a com.-

pression spring Il whereby the compression'bar is urged downwardly.

The breaker bar is in the form of a long strip of metal having alaterally upturned lip I2 in the direction of the compression bar. Asthe material passes betweenthe breaker and compresitl is directedupwardly' by the 11p l2 and is bent down over the lip by the beaters herinafter described.

The breaker bar Il is supported on blocks Il (see Fig. 12) which areformed with ua central portion having oppomtely directed arms atopposite ends and a laterally extending plate 99 on one side upon whichthe breaker bar lies and is bolted. In one of the arms of the blocks M(such arm extending upwardly) is bored a hole I'I for reception of thepins b in order that the breaker bar, 'as well as the previouslydescribed compression bar. may pivot about the same axis. The other ofthe arms of the block Il (these other arms .extending downwardly) arebifurcated and `beater blades I'I, I2.

have pivotally supported between the bifurcations 55, 55, a roller 59which is engaged'with hereinafter described mechanism to rock thebreaker bar lli toward and away from'the compression bar 9.

As hereinbefore mentioned the breaker bar is positioned to cooperatewith rotary beater blades whose structure and function are hereinaftermore particularly'described. In order that the f clearance between thebreaker andlblades may be adjusted there is rigidly afllxed on the end ishaft 32 a segmental member lll whose arcuate portion has gear teeth l2cut thereon. Meshing with the gear teeth 42 is a horizontal worm gear 43mounted in a bracket M aillxed to the frame 29 of the machine. A handwheel I9 is provided on the end of the worm gear for rotating it` toturn the segmental member 40, shaft 92, standard 33 and the breaker barI0, all four of which turn as-a unit, so that the rotation of the handwheel l causes adjustment of the breaking clearance between the breakerbar and the beater blades. To indicate the degree of adjustment the apex4I of the segmental member I0 may act as a pointer, working overdial-like graduations 39 marked on the face of the bearing (for shaft92) which, it will be recalled. is ilxedly supported by the frame 29.

This adjustment of .the breaking clearance is essential to take care ofthe different sizes or thicknesses of stalks or straws of the rawfibers,`

, machines either have no means of adjustment for varying thethicknesses of straws or stalks of the raw iibers, or at best areprovided with'a crude hand adjustment where the machine must be stoppedto make the adjustment, but this requires considerable time and labor.

The planetary beater blade assemblies As may be seen by reference, toFig. 5, there are provided two rotary assemblies i9 and Il o! The bladesof these lassemblies are interchangeable but those of the lower assemblyare mounted for rotation in the opposite direction to those ofthe upperassembly and consequently the blades in the lower as-y sembly should bemounted with their scutchingedges directed in the opposite direction tothose yof the upper assembly. But, both assemblies will have theirscutching edges of the blades directed in the direction of rotation ofthe blades.

' The beater blades are preferably solid pieces may be employed.Preferably the edgeeof the blades will iollow a spiral or helical pathof slight curvature so that the blade will progressively cooperate withvthe breaker bar and material passing over it, beginning at a point atone end of the.

Aand the woody center portions ofthe stalks arebrokenandslipfromthenbrouspart.

the shoulder IIIl but further in on the blade, to

receive a retaining bar Ill having a laterally turned edge portion II5adapted to fit within the groove H3. The retaining bar Ill and toothedbar II2 may be held to the edge of the blade by spaced screws I I6passing through both bars and into the body of the blade II or I2.

Since the upper and lower assemblies I3, I4 are constructed of identicalparts, description of one assembly will sulce.

Driving mechanism of the beater blade assemblies Mounted between thevertical members of the end frames 28-30 of the machine are a `series ofplates a, b, c, d and e, serving to close the end of the frame so that adraft of air may be directed through the machine as hereinafterdescribed and also serving as a mounting for a number of machine partsincluding a bridge bar 6l which is' spaced from the plates b and e bybrackets 8l* located at the ends of the bridge bar and secured theretoand to plates b and c (see Fig. l). Mounted in and keyed (by key 13) toa bearing boss 1U in the bridge bar 6B is a stub shaft 1I which extendsinwardly through the plate d and has keyed on its inner end a small gear16 that forms the central gear of the planetary gear train by which-thebeater blades are driven.

Referring to Figs. '7 and 8 it will be seen that rthere is rotatablymounted on the midportion of the stub shaft 1I a sleeve '12 whichextends through the frame plate d. To support the sleeve 12, a bearing12B is attached to the frame plate d around the opening through whichthe shaft 1I and sleeve 12 pass. For the purpose of driving the sleeve12 a gear 15 is keyed by key 14 to the outer end of the. sleeve. Keyedon theinner end of the sleeve by key 11 so as to rotate therewith is agear box 59 housing the planetary gearing by which the beaters I2 areoperated.

The gear box 59 is provided with internal` gear teeth with which mesh aplurality of spur gears B3 (four are shown for the purpose ofillustration). These gears 63 are keyed to and revolve with stud shafts62 which extend parallel to the stub shaft 1I` and through a gear boxcover 60 with winch they revolve. As may be seen in Fig'. '1 the gearbox cover revolves on and about .the hub of center gear 16 butrelatively to the gear box while the gear box revolves with sleeve 12and drives the planetary gear train. On the ends of the stud shafts 62are mounted the several beaters of the beater blade assemblies `by meansof beater blade supporting members having cylindrical portions 64receiving the shafts 62 and from which end plates B6 extend radially forsuptheir own axes and at the sametime about the xed axis 1I in a mannerreadily understandable -by those familiar with planetary gear trainoperation. y

Driving mechanism for compression and breaker lbars- 'I'he gear box atthe right end (Fig. 2) of the lower beater blade assembly Il differsfrom the others in the provision thereon of a cam annulus il with whichengages a roller Il on one end of a bell crank lli which is pivotallymounted on the standard u. To the other end of this bell crank isloosely pivoted, by pin 8l, a lever 93 whose central portion ispivotally mounted on a pin 94 in the standard u. The free end of thislever ll engages roller 5i of the breaker bar supporting member. As thecam il revolves the low portions 02 receive the. roller Il causingrocking of the bell crank Il and lever 93 and oscillation of the breakerbar ID toward and away from compression bar I.

Functioning of beater assemblies Referring to Fig. 5 it will beobservedthat by positioning the upper beater blade assembly I3 so that the edgesof the blades pass by the edge of the breaker bar-with clearanceadjusted by the previously described means so as to suit thematerial-the stalks will be struck by the beater blades as the stalksare fed. over the edge of the breaker bar and the stalks will be bentand the woody parts broken out. beater at the moment of striking will bethe speed of rotation of the whole beater assembly plus the speed ofrotation oi the beater about its own axis. Thus with a relatively slowlyrotating assembly a rapid or quick striking can be obtained. The numberof strikes or beats per minute will be determined by the 'speed ofrotation of the beater assembly and the number of blades which make upthe assembly. The number of strikes per unit length oi' stalk willdepend upon the speed of feed oi the stalks and the speed of rotationand number of blades in the beater assembly. These factors may all beregulated to suit the particular material being treated, by properchoice and relation of gears and diameters of feed rollers and beaterassemblies.

Due to the fact that the beater blades are ro tating around their ownaxes as well as vthe axis of the whole beater assembly at the moment ofstriking the brous stalks'the arc of attack of the beater blades differsfrom prior devices in that it is of narrower compass and of differentshape than the generally wide circular arcs of the prior devices. Thisdistinguishing characteristic of my machine results in better scutchingaction, cleaner ber and less' tow than in other machines for likepurpose.

yAnother distinguishing characteristic of my machine is thecooperation'between the blades of the upper beater assembly and those ofthe` lower as shown in Fig. 5, so that a vscutching action on the fibertakes place between the blades of the two assemblies as they rotate. l

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that -in putting theprinciples of my invention into practice the gear ratios may bedetermined in such manner as to cause the beaters to make one or severalrotations about their own axes while making one revolution with thewhole beater assembly about the fixed axis of the assembly, lprovided,however, the edges of the blades shall cooperate with breaker bar in thesame manner on The speed of each each succeeding revolution of theassembly. Therefore I do not limit the inventionto any particular numberof rotations of the beater blades'per revolution of the beater assembly.

An advantage; of the solid or closed form -of beater blade is that thebers, shives and tow do not tend to interfere with the operation of theblades by collecting or winding or becoming tangled in between theblades. The blades tend to throw the tow and shives clear of the beaterassemblies.

'The cleaning and scutching devices After treatment in the beaterassemblies the fiber is fed to cleaning and scutching devices I5, Ii,I1, I9 comprising thick bars of polygonal iron section with concavedsides. They rotate about parallel fixed axes. The concavity of the sidesaffords passage in one device for the protruding corners'of the adjacentdevices as they bite into the fiber between neighboring" devices. cally,the uppermost devicev I5 cooperates with the next lower device I1 whichalso cooperates with the next lower device I5. The lowest device IB alsocooperates with device I6.

In the normal operation of the scutching devices I5 to I0 the length offiber Within the devices I5- tor I0 is greater in certain positions ofthe devices than in other positions, due to the fact that the part ofthe bight which issues from the beaters II and I2 is not always at thesame height: This part of the bight is raised or lowered slightly as theposition of the individual beaters changes during their rotation andrevolution. 'I'his raising and lowering tends to create slack at certaintimes, but the slack never really exists, for any lessening in therequired length of the bight results in additional fiber being takeninto the scutchers I5 to I0. Consequently when the bight moves furtherup or down and requires an increase in the length of bight, lthisincrease can only be supplied by pulling the fiber backward through thescutchers I5 to I0, slightly, it being remembered that the compressionbar 9 holds the fiber except for intermittent releases as previouslydescribed. This yretrograde movement of the fiber assists in thescutching action of the scutchers I5 to I0 and tends to clean the fibermore thoroughly. y

As a final step in thetreatment the fiber is passed over a shakingdevice I9. This device is made up of a series of short sections which incross-section are like the scutchers I5 but are angularly spaced and areseparated by discs 2I and are mounted on a shaft 20. By means of thisdevice bunching of the fibers is prevented and the discs serve to keepthe fibers aligned.

Finally, delivery of the 'fiber may be over an apron 23 .secured tothefmachine adjacent the shaker device I9.

With some fibers, or for some purposes, it may not be necessary to useall steps of the treatment. Thereforethe machine need not be used as awhole to successfully treat fiber but where bers are sufficientlycleaned in the beater assemblies to permit immediate use of the ber ltherefrom further treatments in the' machine may be eliminated.

For the purpose ofy removing the shives as they fall, a conveyor belt 24is provided passing around belt rollers 25 supported by bearing bracketson the ends of the machine frame. The `belt is kept tight by atensioning device 00 on the underflight of the belt.

Power may be transmitted to the various de- Specificorticating devicesabove described through gear trains from a power shaft 19 which at oneend is .05 above a sprocket wheel 09 on the end of the shaft of theconveyor roll 25. A chain 01 isA trained over sprockets 05 and 00whereby power is transmitted to conveyor belt 2l.

For driving the scutcher members I5-I0, inter-V meshing gears areprovided on one end of each scutcher member (see Fig. '4). The lowermostscutcher I0 has a gear |01 (Fig.3) mounted on the shaft thereof andmeshing with a pinion 19b on an adjacent stub shaft. On this stub shaftis a gear 10* meshing with gear 10 on power shaft 19. y

For causing a downward draft of air through the machine a four-bladedimpeller I05 on a shaft I00 may be provided in the top of the machinewith its bearing in side plates a. The top of the machine may beinclosed and provided with an inlet for air. The impeller is vdrivenby apinion |09 on shaft |04 meshing with a gear |02 on a stub shaft IOI. Apinion |00, also on shaft IOI, meshes with a large gear 15. This gear15* meshes with a gearA 99 on a shaft 99 supported in bearing bracketson lthe machine frame. Shaft 90has a gear 91 meshing with the gear 96 ofthe uppermost scutcher I5. Thus the impeller |05 and its gear train isdriven from the scutcher devices gear train.

For driving the beater assemblies the hereinbefore-mentioned gears 15are provided. These mesh with each other'and the gear 15 of the lowerbeater assembly also meshes with the power gear 1I.

Many modifications within the scope, of my invention will occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore I do not limit the invention to thespecific embodiment described.

I claim:

1. A machine `for separating the material in plant stems comprising feedrollers, and vibratory means for bending the stems at intervals to breakopen the outside part thereof, supplemental means for removing the pithyinterior parts of the stems from the outside fibrous parts, saidlast-mentioned means comprising a pair of rotary assemblies, eachprovided with a plurality of longitudinally spiral and individuallyrotatable blades. k y

2. Al machine for separating. the material in plant stems comprisingfeed rollers, and vibratory means for bending the stems at intervals tobreak open the outside part thereof, supplemental means for removing thepithy interior paris of the stems yfrom the outside fibrous parts, saidlastmentioned means comprising a pair of rotary assemblies, eachprovided with a plurality of longitudinally spiral and individuallyrotatable blades, the blades of one group being successively engageablewith the bending means for eecting the bending of the material, theblades of the other group being successively engageable with the bladesof the preceding group.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a pair of pressingrolls, a beater plate, a compression plate complementary to the beaterplate, rotary blades complementary to the beater plate for bendingmaterial passing over the firstmentioned plate, and a fan for forcing adraft downwardly through the rotary blade.

Til

ames l f y assembly axes, said assemblies having their blades 4. Amachine of the character described comprising a pair of pressing rolls.a beater plate, a compression plate complementary to the beater plate,rotary blades complementary to the beater plate for bending materialpassing over the firstmentioned plate. a fan for forcing a draftdownwardly through the rotary blade, and an endless conveyor below therotary blade for catching material dropping from the beating operation.

6. In combination, a feed roll mount,V a rotary beater assembly.comprising a plurality of blades, a breaker plate vibratorily mounted onthe beater feed rollermonn't. a cam on the` rotary beater. a connectionbetween the breaker and the cam for vibrating the said plate `and meanswhereby the said feed roller mount can be adjusted 6. In combination. afeed roll mount, a rotary beater assembly comprising a lplurality ofblades. a breaker plate vibratorily mounted on the beater feed rollmount, a cam on thex rotary beater. a connection between the breaker andthe cam for vibrating the said plate and means whereby the said feedroller mount can be adjusted, said adjusting means comprising a shaftcarrying the .nbers to remove said non-fibrous parts.

ing. and a breaker bar over which plant 'stalks' may be fed andcooperating with the blades of said upper assembly to cause separationof the non-brous parts from the fibers of the stalks.

9. In a scutching machine, a breaker bar. a plurality of beater bladeassemblies, a plurality 'of beater blades rotatablewith each assembly,l

one of said assemblies having its blades cooperating with said breakerbar to bend thel stalks Vof fibrous materials and remove the non-brousparts therefrom. an axis for each assembly around which each assemblyrotates, 'an axis Vfor each blade.' means to yrotate said blades abouttheir axes in the same direction as said assemblies while saidassemblies revolve about said edges CODVCX.:

cooperating with eachother and` having the fibrous-material passingbetween them whereby to scutch said fibrous material on opposite sidesand toremove non-fibrous partsl therefrom.

l0. In a scutching machine. a breaker bar, a

plurality of rotary beater blade assemblies, an-

axis for each assembly, a plurality of beater blades making `up eachassembly each' bladehaving its own axis. meansto rotate said bladesabout their own axes as said assemblies revolve about their saidassemblyaxes, one. of said assemblies having vits blades cooperatingwith said breaker barto bend the stalks of brous material and remove thenon-fibrous parts therefrom, said assemblies having their bladescooperating with each other and scutchingssaid fibrous material toremove non-fibrous parts therefrom,

their advance edges concaverand their following l1. In-a scutchingmachine, a breaker bar, a beater blade movable about a fixed axis andcooperating'with said breaker bar, a plurality of scutching edges onsaid beater blade, means to revolve said blade about a fixed axis, andymeans to rotate said blade about a movable axis whereby the arc ofmovement of said edge when adjacent to and cooperating with said breakerbar is-of less magnitude than thecircle whose radius is.

the distance .from said fixed axisto said breaker bar, and means tocause said blade to revolve in the same direction about each of saidmovable and fixed axes.V

.'12. In a scutching machine, a breaker bar, a beater vblade movableabout a fixed axis and .cooperating with said breaker bar, a pluralityof scutching edges on said beater. blade, means to revolve said bladeabout a fixed axis. and means to rotate said blade about a movable axiswhereby the arc of movement ofsaid edge when adjacent to and cooperatingwith said breaker bar is of less magnitude than the circle` whose radiusisthe distance from said fixed axis to said breaker bar, in combinationwith a beater blade vrevolvable about a second fixedv axis, means to'revolve said blade abqut said second axis, means to rotate said secondblade about a movable axis. a

said blades being of closed construction and having' plurality ofscutching edges on said second blade adapted to cooperate with saidfirst blade to scutch fibrous material between said rstand second bladeson both sides of said material.

13. In combination with a scutching machine as described in claim 7,means -to scutch and clean the fibrous materials'issuing from the beat-

